“No,” he said. “So that I could do this.”
He gripped the doorjamb, leaned into the opening and kissed her. He was very careful not to touch her with his hands. This way she had the option of stepping back out of range.
She didn’t step back. Her mouth was soft and welcoming under his. She knew what he was and she wasn’t afraid of him. In fact, she seemed to like what she saw.
Desire arced through him, hot and exultant.
He went through the opening, never taking his mouth off Clare’s, and kicked the door closed with one foot.
Now he did put his hands on her, pulling her close so he could deepen the kiss. He heard her make a muffled, urgent little sound and felt her fingers curl around his shoulders. She gripped him hard, bracing herself, pulling him to her.
Her response to him revved up all his senses. This close to her he could sense her power. He knew she was probably picking up his as well. The effect was an exhilarating rush unlike anything he had ever experienced. The part of him that was never allowed out of control was suddenly running free in the night.
He urged her backward, driven by some vague notion of getting to the bed. But in the first chaotic moments of the kiss he had become disoriented. Clare stopped abruptly, her back against the wall, not a mattress. Desperate for her, he caught her wrists and pinned them on either side of her head
She nipped at his throat in retaliation, letting him feel the edge of her teeth. Then she punished him further by drawing the inside of her leg up along the outside of his calf. He could feel the spike heel of her shoe through the fabric of his trousers. The sensual warning was the most erotic challenge he had ever encountered. It was a wonder he didn’t climax right then, he thought.
He fought back by capturing both her wrists in one hand and anchoring them over her head. The action freed his other hand. He used it to unfasten the clip that bound her hair. The silky tresses tumbled down over his fingers. He seized a fistful of the stuff and used it to hold her head still so he could kiss her again, openmouthed this time, wanting to taste her, needing to inhale her essence.
She twisted restlessly against him. He used his hips to nail her hard against the wall, letting her feel the size and shape of his erection. She reacted with a low, breathless moan. The spike heel of her shoe dug into his leg.
He slid his hand down the sweet curves of her breast and waist, all the way to her hip. There he paused and squeezed, savoring the resilient swell of feminine flesh and bone.
Clare was breathing faster now. Quick, shallow, hot little gasps that told him he was definitely not the only one on fire in this room.
When he raised his head he saw that she was watching him with dazed, unfocused eyes. He realized that she was surprised by her reaction.
“What?” he said, smiling a little. “You didn’t see this freight train bearing down on us all evening?”
“It’s not that.” She shook her head as though to clear it. “It’s just that I didn’t realize how I…Never mind.”
“Now, me, I knew it would be like this,” he said against her mouth. “Knew it the first time I saw you.”
“Did you?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Inserting his fingers between the wall and Clare’s sleek back he found the zipper of the sexy little dress and peeled it down. The front of the garment fell away, revealing a lacy black strapless bra.
He had to release his captive’s hands in order to unfasten the bra. She responded by using her newfound freedom to yank at the buttons of his shirt with trembling fingers.
By the time the bra had disappeared, Clare had her hands flat against his bare chest. When he bent his mouth to taste one tight nipple she swayed against him. The leg that had been climbing his suddenly returned to the floor as she tried to steady herself.
“I don’t know why we’re doing this up against a wall when there’s a bed handy,” he muttered.
He scooped her into his arms and carried her out of the narrow confines of the entryway. He dropped her lightly onto the bed and put his hand on the buckle of his belt. Clare looked up at him with sultry welcome, lips parted in anticipation.
A series of sharp raps on the door reverberated through the room. Jake spun around. The sexual tension that had hardened every muscle in his body was instantly transmuted into another kind of tension via the dark, dangerous alchemy that linked sex and violence. In a heartbeat he had gone from wanting to claim his woman to wanting to protect her.
Talk about overreacting, he thought.
“If that’s the guy from the room next door, I’ve got a few words of advice for him,” he said.
“Wait,” Clare whispered. “I’ll handle this.” She raised her voice. “Who is it?”
“Management.” The familiar voice of the night clerk boomed loudly through the door. “Sorry to disturb you, Miss Lancaster, but we had a report that a second party was seen entering your room. And, uh, well, there’s a rule. It says that only the person who is legally registered in the room can occupy it. So, unless you, uh, want to pay an additional fee and register that guy who’s in there with you, I’m going to have to ask your guest to leave.”
“Well,” Clare murmured. “This is certainly one of life’s more embarrassing little moments.” She raised her voice again. “There’s been a misunderstanding. Just a second.”
She got to her feet, staggered, and would have toppled over if Jake hadn’t caught her. She looked down and noticed her missing shoe. “I knew I shouldn’t have bought these sandals.”
“For what it’s worth,” Jake said, zipping up the dress, “I like them.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to wear them.”
She removed the remaining shoe and walked, barefoot, across the room. She paused, one hand on the door, and waited impatiently for Jake to finish buttoning his shirt.
He shoved the shirttails back inside the waistband of his trousers and spread his hands in a voilà gesture.
She jerked the door open and glared at the night clerk. “My business associate was concerned about the security in this room. He wanted to check it out before he left.”
It was a good line, Jake thought, amused. And she had delivered it with just the right amount of irritated arrogance. She might have got away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for the fact that, from her shoeless feet to her rumpled dress and tousled hair, she radiated the unmistakable aura of a woman who had just been thoroughly kissed.